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Summaries of the debates on the forum

Summary II - 6 - (13 - 26 March 2000)

FOLLOWING IS A MACHINE TRANSLATION OF THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH. IT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR MISTRANSLATION ONLY. THE ORIGINAL IN FRENCH IS AVAILABLE ON THIS WEB SITE AT: <http://www.ue-acp.org/fr/forum/syntheses/syntII6.html>

KEY WORDS: DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION; FUND RAISING; NORTH-SOUTH INTERDEPENDENCE; CROSS-CULTURAL DYNAMICS; EVOLUTION OF INSTITUTIONS

* * Title: Summary II - 6 - (13 - 26 March 2000) * *
by: Anne SIMON <anne.simon@skynet.be>
<http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/presentations/simon.html>
°°° Abstract:
The border between action of development education and development is increasingly fuzzy. The definition of development education changes. It has gone from the circulation of a pessimistic image of Africa, efficient for the collection of funds, to the recognition of North-South interdependence as a key to development. The action of cooperation in the South such as it was designed traditionally and was conducted should change to adjust to these new challenges of interdependence, thanks to the facilitation of exchanges through the new means of communication.
Some organizations have specialized in these challenges of interdependence, on a role of watch and control of national and international public decision-makers and private businesses.
Actors of development education seem to be of two types, the activist organizations and organizations of " professionals " of development, for which development education seems to be rather a support in search of funds for their actions of cooperation. Is there a clear differentiation of practices of these types of organization? The question remains open.
Ana Larrègle proposes a contextualisation of this topic of development education in our discussion on information and ask a set of questions remaining unresolved.
Participants to the forum are invited at a local level by ECDPM to an electronic forum of three weeks on the "participation" in cooperation by actors, a topic that is related to our past discussions. °°°

1 - Discussion on development education
From the use of the pessimistic vision to collect funds to the recognition of North-South interdependence as a key to development:
The subject had been considered at the time of the previous two weeks. It had been said that the awareness raising to international cooperation had to be made in the North as well as in the South with or without the media. François Milis explains a historic evolution of development education (considered at the start as an action with regard to the public of the North).
At the start there was a link between development education and the collection of funds for projects. In this setting it transmitted a pessimistic image of the South.
Later, it aimed to have the general population share a more constructive vision showing on the contrary that which "is creative and living" in the South. This evolution has been supported by a code of ethics of development education proposed by the UNICEF (reported by Astrid Compagnon-Ouedraogo). This being said, this evolution induces a certain tendency to "schizophrenia", it is still necessary to collect funds from the North for the South and to play on the sensitive register.
Finally the third evolution, which seems more recent, was built on the interdependence of phenomena and challenges of development in the North and the South (for example as regards traditional and industrial fishing, or see the campaign "Couleurs Lomé" in the previous two weeks).
To recognize interdependence leads to the integration of development education in the "development partnership". .
In this conception, development education and action of development cooperation are linked intimately. A solidary peoples' declaration proposed in 1996 reported by Astrid Compagnon-Ouedraogo observes as well that it is necessary to conduct a real "education to humankind", based on interdependence and cross-cultural dynamics, calling upon interdisciplinary skills (to compare all differences as we have compared experiences these last months on the forum). Development education in this setting comes very obviously out of information on projects but must be based on the wealth of actors. This perception is therefore in phase with discussions that we had on this forum on the reality of partnership.
François Milis explains how the action of cooperation in the South such as it was designed traditionally and conducted should change to adjust to these new challenges of interdependence, favored among others by the facilitation of exchanges through the new means of communication.
The institutional organizations and mechanisms of aid of the European Commission have not followed these evolutions.
From development education to the role of watch / lobby with regard to decision-makers
This new conception of development education is based on actions in the North of organizations / pressure groups with regard to decision-makers from the private and governmental / intergovernmental sectors for the defense of universal rights or the management of resources and humankind's common heritage.
Actors in this form of development education? Does their nature condition their form of action?
François Milis wonders if the NGOs that have entered into the logic of watch / pressure groups haven't led to too specific actions. Astrid Compagnon-Ouedraogo offers the hypothesis that one can distinguish the action of the " big NGOs " (dependent on the collection of funds ) and of the "more activist small NGOs" and citizens, which have gone further in their practice and the consideration of the question of development education (and for which development education is rather intercultural). She tells the action that she conducted as a volunteer in a small organization part of a national campaign. It was about a set of actions essentially conducted in school contexts and with regard to children of underprivileged urban zones in France. The conception of their campaign was under a label. The experience showed how much the enrichment proved to be mutual between the facilitators and publics involved in a multicultural context (the populations of districts, teachers, children) but also among the children, who learned to know each other better. It showed how activism could make it possible to go far, even without means, but raised in the end the question of the pursuit of such actions in the long term.
Her dissertation advisers did not accept her subject on the concept-practices dichotomy between the small NGOs and the big NGOs. She wonders about the reason of this refusal, and wishes the opinions of participants.
2 - Following the discussion on the need to go from knowledge transfer to exchange
Role of the universities
Michel Ansay had spoken of the tendency to mimetism of the academic of the South. Magnus O. Bassey in presenting his book "Western Education and Political Domination in Africa -- A Study in Critical and Dialogical Pedagogy" pushes the theory further, since for him the African elite, in particular in places of education (schools, universities) perpetuate the social separation by excluding the experiences and views of the poor world.
3 - Proposal of forum by ECDPM on joint action of local governments and the civil society (3 weeks of discussion beginning April 3)
This forum is closely related to the discussions that took place on "taking a fresh start from the local level" (we recall for new participants that all contributions and discussions are logged on the Web site at <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/archives.html>). This discussion proposes three topics of discussion on:

Types of desirable consultative processes (we had insisted on the need to propose processes that correspond to local and territorial rationales without polarizing on the fact that they should be "acceptable by lessors");
Mechanisms allowing the local development actors to share the financial management of resources (in this case the question of control through information and transparency was for example for a long time developed on the forum);
How local actors can local actors participate in the assessment of results and their measurement? This is a point that we developed these last months by extending it in general to the question of cooperation by proposing a permanent place of discussion of collective control of cooperation.

You can sign up to the discussion at <http://www.capacity.org> or by sending an e-mail to <cb@ecdpm.org> mentioning "registration" and your name in the Subject field.
Participants of the EU-ACP Forum, if they are free, could rise as a proposal force; jump in!
4 - Information and resources: The preparation of the Europe-Africa Summit of Cairo and the future Community orientations of development
INFO: The preparation of the Europe-Africa Summit of heads of state and government in Cairo.
In this context, the civil society is found to propose a declaration to the attention of participants to this Summit.
Bob Van Dillen presented a meeting organized at the European Parliament.
Sophie Nick presented a set of preliminary meetings among civil societies of Africa and Europe organized by the North-South Center with the support of the European Commission. Topics discussed during workshops take up the big orientations of the future development of European cooperation (eradication of poverty, stable and democratic environment, human rights in Europe and in Africa, and how to reinforce regional and national capacities for wellbeing and citizenship).

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RESOURCES
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Europa Web site: An important search was done by Ana Larrègle on the main Web sites dealing with development education (concepts, surveys, analyses, programs and campaign in progress, instruments and financial mechanisms of European support). Forum Coordination: 17 Mar 00 [LOME] Resources on the Europa Web site <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/forum/archives/2000-03/msg00013.html>
Bernard Comte proposes the analysis of the future agreement of partnership between the European Union and the ACP countries. He wonders if the founding principles of the aid policy to the Third world are to be questioned. He proposes an analysis of the positioning, the interests of the European Commission, of the Members States, of the ACP States, of non-state actors and of the populations. In French only <http://www.Montesquieu.u-bordeaux.fr/u/conte/Edito/edito1.htm>
Michel Ansay and Yamalo Kambere make proposals to work with farmers and to fill the gap between the academic knowledge of agronomists / veterinarians and of the farmers for a common language, and to arrive to a harmonious, viable, equitable and sustainable development. <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/documents/kamans.html>
Pierre Calame comments on the working document that the European Commission puts in consultation on its Web site on the future development policy. He doubts that these orientations correspond to a real change. They constitute a top-down model, without proposing real innovations aiming to change practices. It is necessary therefore really set up systems (of the aid-watch type) making it possible for those that live the realities to underscore them with regard to the rhetoric. <http://www.ue-acp.org/en/documents/reactue.html>
Anne SIMON
Forum Coordination <moderation@ue-acp.org> <http://www.ue-acp.org/fr/forum/participants.html>

contact : publication@ue-acp.org